Researcher(s):
Maya Kelp Jaya Gatchell Alix Soliman Kyla Husted
ENVS course(s): 220 Initiated: November 2016 Completed: December 2016 Go to project site
|
Framing Question: How has the introduction of Bt cotton in India changed the social and agricultural landscape?
Focus Questions: What are the graphical trends in agricultural development in India? How are rural communities and ecosystems in India impacted the agricultural trends?
Descriptive: What is the state of cotton production in India? What are the current and historical controversies surrounding Bt cotton?
Explanatory: How has the production of Bt cotton in India created controversy?
Evaluative: How are the various actors (farmers, the state, activists, Mahyco, Monsanto, investors) implicated or affected by the prevalence of Bt cotton? How has India’s environmental and social landscape changed with the increase of Bt cotton?
Instrumental: How effective are the agricultural and economic regulations in India and how could they be augmented?
We researched the 2002 implementation of Monsanto's Bt cotton in India and the subsequent increase in cotton production and controversy over the ethics and efficacy of GM technology -specifically regarding farmer suicides. We assessed the controversy through the frameworks of environmental justice, risk and vulnerability, political economy, and rhetorical analysis. In order to understand the opposing perspectives of the social, economic, an environmental concerns that have erupted as a result of widespread Bt adoption, we conducted a rhetorical analysis of relevant media. We supplemented with statistical analysis. Due to our "outsider" perspective, we could not come to a decisive conclusion concerning which side was "right" and what should be done. Rather, our research suggests that both sides of this heated debate have merit and must be evaluated further, perhaps through an ethnographic study.